Great Start Not Enough as Padua falls to Toledo St. John

Padua Freshman Jake Lutch (Brown Jersey) fights with a St. John player for the puck during the Bruins' 9-1 loss to the Titans in Toledo. (Tom Hamzik)

For the first ten-plus minutes of Saturday night's game in the Mark Rasmus Memorial Invitational at Tam-O-Shanter Ice Arena in Sylvania, it appeared as if the Padua Bruins had a chance to pull off a monumental upset.

The Bruins played what Head Coach Sean Evans described as "The best ten minutes we've played all year" as they held a 1-0 lead over the #2 Ranked Toledo St. John Titans for more than six minutes in the 1st Period.

"They played the way they could play for ten minutes of this game," said Evans. "I'm trying to figure out how to make them play that way for 45 minutes."

Sophomore Mike Onorato scored with 10:05 in the 1st for the Bruins, as they took a 1-0 lead they would hold until late in the period.

But the Titans proved that they're ranked second in the state for a reason. Sophomore Adam Butler ruined the Bruins' excitement with 3:48 in the Period to tie things up, which was followed by goals from Dominick Horvath and Austin Kelly within two minutes of that. St. John led, 3-1, after the 1st, and rode that momentum to a 9-1 victory over the visiting Bruins.

"I thought we were playing ok, we just weren't getting any results to start the game," said Titans Head Coach Mike Hayes. "[Padua] was playing hard. We turned the puck over right at our blue line, that's what cost us a goal. Overall, I thought we were going all right. Once we got that first one, it started rolling and the guys were flying."

Hayes pointed out that the 2nd Period was similar, as the Bruins hung with mighty St. John for nearly ten minutes. This time, the only Padua penalty of the game was the source of a Titan goal, as Kelly found the net for his second goal of the evening with 5:32 in the frame. Sure enough, less than a minute later Sophomore Derek Dohanos scored to make it 5-1, and Senior Ryan Rapp added a short-handed goal in the final minute of the period for a 6-1 lead after two.

"We've got a lot of capable guys on the team," said Hayes, as seven different players scored for his Titans. "I saw they were rolling two wide for the most part. We were trying to roll four just thinking that is was going to wear them down a bit. Guys that were going hard got rewarded a bit."

Nick Verbosky scored a minute and a half into the 3rd, while Ryan Rafac added a goal and Butler tacked on his second of the night in the final fifteen minutes to seal up the 9-1 victory.

St. John out shot Padua, 48-7 on the evening. Bruin Senior and Captain Austen Peppo was stellar in goal, stopping 39 of those Titan shots.

"That first ten minutes was phenomenal," said Evans, in his second year leading his alma mater. "We got a goal and started believing a little. Then John's scored and all of the wind got sucked out of the sail. We have to figure out a way to produce that ten minutes times four and a little more.

"We're going to be in good shape. They proved that they have it in them. Maybe it's a young team finally starting to see themselves. It's exciting. I'm frustrated, but taking the positives out of it, those ten minutes against probably the best team in the state right now is big in preparing for tomorrow and next Friday against Holy Name."

St. John completes a sweep in pool play of their own tournament, also beating Dublin Jerome and Lake Catholic. They will battle University School at 3pm tomorrow in the Championship Game.

"We have to get off to quick start," said Hayes. "They're a really good team and I know they're going to bring their best effort. They're always a good opponent and it's always a good battle with us. We're going to have to make sure we get off to a real quick start and that we're committed to 45 minutes of hard work."

On the contrary, the Bruins drop to 0-3 in pool play. They will face Toledo St. Francis in the 7th Place Game at 8:30am, whom Padua lost to by scores of 3-2 and 7-1 this season.

"It's a momentum thing," Evans said of the game. "We have to come out and get that first goal. That's what it comes down to. We do that, we're in the game."

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.